


Keep an Eye Out for the Red Birds

by petesmywinona



Category: Stray Kids (Band)
Genre: Character Death, Grief/Mourning, Lee Felix (Stray Kids) is a Sweetheart, Mentioned Kim Seungmin, Other, Sad
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-13
Updated: 2020-04-13
Packaged: 2021-03-01 23:22:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,065
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23635276
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/petesmywinona/pseuds/petesmywinona
Summary: Oneshot"A hundred years!""Yes! We have to be friends for a hundred years, Jisung! That's perfect!""Pinky promise," Jisung grabbed the other's pinky with his own, squeezing to seal their promise.
Relationships: Han Jisung | Han/Lee Felix
Comments: 2
Kudos: 32





	Keep an Eye Out for the Red Birds

After spending all afternoon tiring themselves out on the playground, five-year-old Jisung and Felix sat on the two swings closest to each other, catching their breath. "Felix, you're always so fun to play with. We need to be friends forever because I don't ever want to not be friends."

"Me too but we can't be friends f o r e v e r, silly! My Mom always says nothing can be forever! We have to be friends as long as possible," Felix said, trying to make the concept as reasonable as he could.

"A hundred years!"

"Yes! We have to be friends for a hundred years, Jisung! That's perfect!"

"Pinky promise," Jisung grabbed the other's pinky with his own, squeezing to seal their promise.

They had done it, been friends for a century that is. The two had had the same conversation about their long-lasting friendship several times throughout their lives and now that they had done it, Felix wasn't so sure if he was glad or not. One hundred years following their pinky promise, after both of them outlived all their immediate family members and some of their own grandchildren, Felix sat at the very back of Jisung's funeral with tears filling his vision and leaving streaks down his face. Felix had grieved for so many people throughout his life and every time the grief felt different, but one instance was never worse than another. During Jisung's funeral though, Felix realized this time the grief was going to be worse than any other and he wasn't ready for that. He had tried to pretend like Jisung was only temporarily gone somewhere and was going to come back, as he always had before. Now that he was there and had already seen the body, there was no hiding from the knowledge that his best friend would never return. 

Jisung's great-nephew read his eulogy, telling everyone about his life and all the great things he'd done with it, how he was so hardworking and great at art. He told them about how much Jisung cherished his family and how great of a father, uncle, brother, and the like he had been. Felix found himself zoning out and instead of listening to the eulogy and paying attention he spent most of the funeral recalling their life experiences together. 

A montage of memories played in Felix's head, starting with the pillow forts they'd made with their other friend Seungmin, who had once accidentally knocked out one of Jisung's baby teeth. Childhood memories faded to things more along the lines of their friend group in high school that consisted of five people who were too stupid to work a vending machine, to their first jobs, to college. When Felix had been in his first car accident he ended up in critical condition and Jisung had been there for him just as much as Felix's parents and siblings. Felix recalled when they had their worst fight and how painful it had been at the time to swallow his pride and be the one to apologize. Marriage. Their first children. Grief. Marriage again. Their last children. Their grandchildren and great-grandchildren. Retirement. Mornings full of the smell of coffee and sounds of birds while chatting with Jisung and sometimes their friend Jeongin or other family members.

Felix noticed people standing up and starting to leave and remembered where he was. The funeral was over and it was time for the burial, but Felix knew he just wouldn't be able to bear it. As he was walking around looking for his ride, he'd been given probably as many hugs and condolences as Jisungs's own children, as everyone who had attended the funeral knew how close they were. Everyone at the burial had even been waiting for him to get there before starting, but when Felix got in the car he asked his great-grandaughter to drive him straight home instead. 

"Are you sure?" Her voice was laced with concern. 

"Yeah, I don't want to be anywhere else right now."

"But Jae told me they're going to wait for you to get there before they bury him."

"Call Jae and tell him not to wait for me."

"But Poppa-"

"Please, Alex," so she did as he said and drove him home instead

"Do you need anything? Do you want me to stay with you a while or get you anything?" he denied, thanking her and heading to his backyard, unable to get Jisung off his mind.

Jisung had been the last of the two to retire and ever since the day he did, they would sit in Felix's yard every morning and watch the birds that showed up to eat out the collection of bird feeders. The way they spent their mornings had become an important part of the day for both of them. Both Felix and Jisung lived with one of their grandchildren who had small kids of their own. Their living space was made quite hectic because of this and their mornings together were often their only chance for peace and quiet on top of being their social hour and Jisung's chance to see his beloved red birds.

Jisung adored the red birds and talked about them all the time. He bought special bird seeds to put in a specific feeder dedicated just to attracting more red birds. He had several paintings of red birds hanging up in his own house, as well as a mug with a picture of one on it, among some other red bird-themed items. And when a pair of them decided to build a nest and hatch their eggs in Felix's backyard, he was almost afraid he would never get Jisung to leave. Though now that Felix knew who died first, he wished he hadn't have worried about the other staying too long. 

So there Felix sat, on a bench in his backyard, in his usual spot, holding his head in his hands, eyes shut. He'd already filled the bird feeders that morning before he left for the funeral and he could hear all the birds munching away at the seeds and feed mix, at the time they all seemed insignificant to him until he decided to finally open his eyes.

There stood a red bird in the same spot right next to him, exactly where Jisung would sit with him every morning without fail for forty years.


End file.
